A 22-year-old man, Bashir Hassan and three teenagers have been arrested for allegedly sodomizing eight underaged boys in Jigawa state.
The spokesperson of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps of the state Command, Adamu Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
He said the suspects lured the minors with sweets and money.
The statement read “personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Jigawa State Command apprehended one Bashir Hassan, 22 of Habude Quarters, Birnin Kudu LGA and Ado Muhammad, 18, Usman Abba,15, Yusuf Garba,14 of Kofar Fada Quarters, Birnin Kudu LGA, Jigawa State .
“They were arrested on a suspected case of homosexuality (unnatural offence), contrary to section 284 of the penal code law of Jigawa State and punishable under same section.
“Two of the suspects were arrested on Saturday, 28th of May, 2023 at about 1:30pm following a complaint lodged by the father of one of the victims, an eleven year old boy (name withheld) of the same address, while the two others were equally arrested in the course of investigations
“The father stated that he had noticed the constant visitation of his child to Ado’s Barbing Shop and most times will return with some gifts including sweets, therapeutic food popularly known as ‘tamowa’ and money which heightened his suspicion.
“Upon inquiry from the boy he stated his relationship with Ado and his friends. the boy narrated that Ado used to take him and his friend from the neighborhood, a twelve year old to an uncompleted building nearby and had canal knowledge of them and thereafter, invites his friends namely Yusuf Garba and Usman Abba to also engage them with a threat to kill them if they dare tell anyone. According to the boys, they engaged them more than five times.
“Investigation into the case further revealed another suspect, Bashir Hassan and six other victims aged between 11- 13 respectively, who were both sodomized.
The investigation further revealed that the suspect,Bashir used to give the victims, N20, N50 and his phone for them to play games.
It was gathered that the syndicate had sodomized a total of eight underaged children.
According to the statement ,medical examination conducted at the Sexual Assault and Referral Center, Dutse General Hospital, revealed evidence of repeated sexual penetration.
Two of the suspects, Yusuf Garba and Usman Abba have denied the allegation, but, medical report obtained from SARC revealed that they themselves were victims of the alleged crime.
The PPRO said the suspects will be charged to court, after all investigations.
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